Dark Matter: A Novel (Hardcover)

Staff Reviews

I love a good SciFi novel and Dark Matter TOTALLY delivered! Jason Dessen leads a humble, happy life, that is until someone decides to take it all away and change everything, throwing him into a frightening adventure through parallel timelines. He must fight the known, the unknown, and the unknown known. Every time I figured something out, there was a whole new twist! Now I need to go read some more Blake Crouch!

— Staci Gray

This is a super fun mind-bender of a read! At first it seems like a straightforward sci-fi, travel-between-parallel-universes kind of narrative. Sci-fi fans may think they've read, or seen, this story before. But then it changes, and things get really weird. Crouch doesn't pull his punches in this book, and he takes his characters down some pretty dark roads while exploring some interesting consequences of existing in a multi-verse where one really can move between them. A motivated reader could finish this book in one sitting. The story is certainly compelling enough!

— Sarah H.

August 2016 Indie Next List

“Dark Matter is equal parts science fiction, thriller, and theoretical self-examination, complete with an overarching love story. Crouch does a fantastic job of keeping readers grounded while traveling through multiple dimensions, and he offers introspection on how each of the life choices a person makes recreates that person in a new and profound way. I tore through this, waiting for --and finding -- a spectacular conclusion. A must-read!”
— Ed White (E), Hudson Booksellers, Newark, NJ

Description

A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. Hiswife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human—a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.

About the Author

Blake Crouch is best known for the Wayward Pines trilogy, which has sold more than a million copies and was adapted into a prime-time event series on FOX. He lives in Colorado.

Praise For…

“You’ll gulp Dark Matter down in one afternoon, or more likely one night… Alternate-universe science fiction [and] a countdown thriller in which the hero must accomplish an impossible task to save his family. There’s always another door to open, and another page to turn.” —New York Times Book Review

“A fast, tasty read with a killer twist. It’s a whole bag of barbecue chips…just sitting there waiting for you to devour in one long rush.”—NPR.org

“A hard tale to shake…makes its characters — and readers — wonder what life would have been like had they made different decisions. Relatable and unnerving.”—USA Today

"Propulsive...Dark Matter has plenty of heady concepts and phantasmagorical plotting. But it is also beguilingly rooted in [its hero's] desperate travails, elevating this page-turning adventure into an entirely different dimension."—Entertainment Weekly

“A blockbuster read that channels Michael Crichton… I can’t remember when I last sat down and blew through a book in literally a single sitting.”—The Verge

“A dazzling book for summer [with] a mind-bending premise, a head-spinning plot that’s dialogue-driven and adrenaline-fueled, and a gut-wrenching climax that gave me goose bumps.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Draws on questions and anxieties we all wrestle with in the dark hours...Crouch has invested [sci-fi motifs] with scientific plausibility, and more unusually, with emotional depth."—Wall Street Journal

“Crouch takes a sharp sci-fi premise and infuses it with love…A gripping page-turner [that is] concerned above all with the heart, and what we do to it—or let happen to it—over time. Dark Matter is It’s A Wonderful Life for the 21st century”—AVClub.com

“[A] mind-blowing speculative-science thriller that throws in an old-fashioned love story for good measure.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"A high-tension thriller...always engaging and frequently moving. A strong piece of summertime get-away reading, perfect for those times when the mind wanders to contemplate an alternate reality of endless vacation."—San Francisco Chronicle

“Exciting, suspenseful and frightening, yet also poignant and heartwarming, DARK MATTER is one of the best books of any year…or any reality.”—Book Reporter

“A mind-bending odyssey of parallel worlds and causality [that] unfolds with all the suspense and strength of a more straightforward thriller, building up to a deliciously surreal climax…memorable and well-rounded characters add a big, beating heart to the tale.”—New York Journal of Books

"Brilliant. A book to remember. I think Blake Crouch just invented something new.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

“Exceptional. An exciting, ingeniously plotted adventure about love, regret, and quantum superposition. It’s been a long time since a novel sucked me in and kept me turning pages the way this one did.” —Andy Weir, New York Times bestselling author of The Martian

"A masterful, truly original work of suspense. Crouch delivers laser-focused prose, a plot that melds science fiction and thriller to brilliant effect, and a touching, twisted love story that plays out in ways you'll never see coming. It all adds up to one hell of a ride."—Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger

"Wow. I gulped down Dark Matter in one sitting and put it down awed and amazed by the ride. It's fast, smart, addictive-- and the most creative, head-spinning novel I've read in ages. A truly remarkable thriller."—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series

“A mind-bending thriller of the first order, not merely a rollicking entertainment but a provocative investigation into the nature of second chances, all of it wrapped in a genius sci-fi package. I dare you to put it down, because I sure couldn’t.”—Justin Cronin, New York Times bestselling author of the Passage Trilogy.

“The kind of book the word "thriller" was coined for -- a shooting star through multiple genres, posing fundamental questions about identity and reality before revealing itself as, at its core, a love story. Smart, fast, powerful, and ultimately touching."—Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Guilty Minds and Suspicion

"An addictive read! When the quantum mechanics kick in (no kidding!), hold onto your horses -- you're in for an intelligent, breath-taking ride."—John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of The Fall and The Oath

“Blake Crouch yet again proves himself to be a master. Nonstop pacing, fascinating characters and an ingenious concept all come together flawlessly in a crescendo of pursuit, danger, and romance all the way to a surprising and satisfying slam-bang conclusion.”—Barry Eisler, New York Times bestselling author of the John Rain series

“Crouch keeps the pace swift and the twists exciting. Readers who liked his Wayward Pines trilogy will probably devour this speculative thriller in one sitting [as will] those who enjoy roller-coaster reads in the vein of Harlan Coben.”—Booklist

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